The hue and cry over Kalabagh dam in the Sindh assembly was all emotions and mindless rhetoric and not even one cogent argument. Sindh will become Somalia, but how? Did Tarbela dam convert Sindh into Somalia? Sindh cultivated 27 lac additional acres because of Tarbela dam. Please check with your irrigation department. Will KBD do so because it is in Punjab? Will Punjab operate the dam and not IRSA, Sindh having three votes in IRSA to one for Punjab? India and China were quoted as examples of the damage that large dams do. India has 4,500 large and medium dams. It is presently going ahead with a mega dam on Narmada River in the face of strong opposition from regional forces. China has 6,000 large and medium dams. The Three Gorges Dam recently absorbed a major part of a 27 lac cusec flood to save the downstream areas from severe damage (our flood in 2010 was 9 lac cusec). It appears that reason and logic have nothing to do with the opposition to Kalabagh dam, it has all to do with Benazir Bhutto’s clarion call that Sindh will become a desert if Kalabagh dam is built. And the foolish awam are all set to vote for her again.
